Star Wars: Mandalorian Way
by Rhysati Ynr
Summary: ObiWanAnakinSiri fanfic! Please r&r! All finished chapters thus far are now up. Return of a character too! This fanfic is dedicated to my friend Erin K, who if she had her way would kill Siri!
1. Chapter 1

Star Wars

Mandalorian Way

Written by Rachel E Hayler

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

The Outlander Club was a seedy hideout for all of the scum and villiany of the galaxy. It was by utter coincidence, or so it felt to Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi that he found himself in this particular establishement once again. The whole place reeked of betrayl and conspiracy, from the slightest of glances from the shifty looking patrons around him, to the smallest of hand movements between friends that were aimed just a little bit in his general direction. A small, wry smile crossed his face at that point, once the thoughts rang through his fast-working mind. The Senate itself felt very much like this nowadays, or at least, the back-stabbing Senators of rivalling planets aurored these certain emotions. He sighed. Even the Chancellor and his associates seemed to be enveloping upon themselves even more than usual, especially since the Senate had granted him emergency powers to create a clone army that would protect the faltering Republic from the violent actions of the ever growing Seperatist movement. But right now, this was something that he could not worry himself with. The Jedi Council themselves had set him a very special mandate. And apparently, he was the only Jedi in the entire Order that was up to the task.

Now that the Jedi Order were becoming more wide-spread across the galaxy, and their supplies of fully trained and adequete Jedi Knights were starting to come at a short haul, the sources from which they had been getting information from on the Seperatists were becoming more and more untrustworthy with each new piece of information that was being sent their way. Worst of all, the Jedi themselves were unable to try and sense if this information was correct, due to the fact that the elusive Seperatist leader and Sith Lord, Count Dooku, had draped the actions of him and his council in a veil of dark-side illusion, the information was just not safe enough to be investigated. Hence, on of the reasons why the Jedi Council had sent him on this particular mission, no-one would be able to hide their intentions from a Jedi Master, surely. But, truth be told, Obi-Wan in his usual way of thinking was still feeling that his skills were inadequete to fill in the tasks that needed to be performed as a Master of the Order. All the same, Master Yoda and his other fellow Council members - it was still a shock to him to be able to refer to them as his other members on the Council along with himself, even though it had been a good standard month since he had first been elected onto the Jedi Council, even after the tragic loss of a Council member at the battle of Geonosis that had occurred a year ago - and so, he had made sure that he would put his full mind to the task of this new mission, and make sure that he was not distracted in any way.

Then again, it was not as if the Council had given him enough information to try and carry out this mission anyway. The mandate had simply said that he was due to meet the informant, who would tell him the location of his target, in this dingy nightclub. He coughed slightly, as a patron with a rather sickly smelling cigarette meandered - it seemed deliberately - past him. He shrugged the action off, and went back to his own private thoughts. It still seemed very weird to him as to why the Council had not allowed him to have more access into what he was supposed to do on this new assignment. All that he did know was pretty vague, his aim was to try and locate the young boy Boba Fett, who had gone missing since his father had died at the hands of Jedi Master Mace Windu almost a standard year ago. That was going to be easier said than done. So now, here he was, sat at the bar of the dirty and smoggy Outlander Club, not knowing who he was supposed to be meeting to get some information that would start him off on his mission.

"If the details you lack, " Master Yoda had said in his strained Basic. "Then more of an open mind when the time comes, will you have."

An eyebrow raised on his forehead without him even realising it. The Council had been very withdrawn recently. Or perhaps, that was just how it appeared to him. They had been keeping information back from him for several months now, and it was starting to become more and more frustrating as the days went by. He sighed. The Senate was starting to poison the mind of the members of the council for sure, or at least, corrupting the way that they came to decisions about important matters concerning the whole of the Jedi Order.

With a quick shake of his head, he took another long sip of the drink he had ordered, and closed his eyes as he felt the cool, soothing liquid trickle down his throat. His mind cleared in an instant, and he downed the remainder of the glass in one. If the Council decided to keep some information from him, then that was fine. Who was he to criticise the thoughts and wishes of great Jedi Masters such as Master Yoda and Master Windu? The words 'also a member of the same jedi council as them', sprang to mind, but he banished them as soon as they entered his head.

All he was going to have to do now, was await the arrival of the Jedi who he was supposed to be working with on this mission. But then again, as usual, this was another detail that had been kept hidden from him. And this time, unlike the other times, the Council had not stated why they were not going to tell him this. This had startled him somewhat, but, true to Jedi fashion, he had bitten back the thoughts and merely accepted the knowledge that he had been offered.

He looked over his shoulder slightly, looking around for any sign of a being that might be the Jedi that he would be working with, but saw no-one that stood out in particular. He turned back around and sighed, waving slightly at the gruff looking bartender with two single fingers. At this rate, and at the rate that he was consuming alcohol, he would not be in a very fit state to even start carrying out this mission. The bartender nodded slightly at the gesture, and with a rather agitated expression, obeyed the Jedi's command and came over a minute or so later.

With a polite smile, he indicated his empty glass and pushed it over to the rather burly looking Rodian before him. "Same again, if you would be so kind."

The Rodian replied with a soft grunt that suggested he was not particularly pleased to be spoken to in such a teasing and demeaning manner, but obliged none the less.

"Three fifty, please."

With another smile that could melt the coldest of ice, Obi-Wan tossed a credit chip over to the man, even though the price was more than extortionate for such a common beverage. "Thanks."

The bartender grunted once more, and turned around to serve another customer who he had eyed out earlier.

The jedi master took a testing sip, and satisified with its quality, he smiled and turned back around to survey the scenery around him for any possible informants or other jedi that he might be working with. He frowned as he gaze passed a suspicious group of various beings of different sizes and species, who turned and conversed between one another when he looked in their direction. In any normal circumstance, he would have pursued the event further, trying to find out what had caused the shifty manouver, but right now, he had been ordered to stick to the task at hand.

He continued to sweep a long gaze about the room around him, taking note of the appearance of any beings that did happen to look rather weird for future reference, then suddenly, saw a shadow shift slightly to his right. He returned his gaze to the bar before him and his drink, making sure that his hands were knotted neatly on his thighs, and pushing back his Jedi cloak just enough so that any ambushing assasain would know that he was indeed, armed. But, just as before nothing happened. He groaned in agitation. Maybe it was just the alcohol that was making him so jumpy, but he had been so certain that someone was about to approach him. Well, there was always one way to be sure. He fell into the Force, and out-stretched his hyper enhanced senses. For sure, he felt a blinding Force-presence to his right, slinking towards him as he searched. With a beaming smile, he withdrew himself from the Force.

He spun around in his new accomplace's direction, and found himself gawping wide-eyed at a young female jedi, who had shoulder length blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"Siri!"

Jedi Knight Siri Tachi gave him a warm smile, and patted the air slightly with a single hand. Nodding in understanding, he fell back into the Force in unison with her, and together they put up a Force-Illusion to hide their true identities.

Once they were both under the protective veil of the Force-illusion, she slipped in closer towards him, and gently kissed him gently on the lips. "Nice to see you too, Kenobi."

When she pulled away, he patted a stool beside him, and she vaulted elegantly up on to it.

He waited until she had ordered her own drink, then asked, "How the blazes did you get the Council to allow you to come on this mission with me?"

She shrugged, and tossed a chip over to the burly bartender, who gave her a pleasant and intruiging glance as he accepted the chip. "I didn't. The Council thought that with your experience and my contacts, we would have just the right mixture of skills to try and find this Fett kid."

As the bartender continued to remain where he was, Obi-Wan gave him a quick Force-shove in his mind to divert his attention elsewhere. Siri smiled. "They were going to send Anakin, until Master Windu suggested that the mission needed to be dealt with a bit more 'sensitively'."

That brought a smile to his face. "I can see why the Council would have considered such an action."

She nodded. "I spoke to Anakin about it before I left, and he did not seem too bothered." Her eyes rolled upwards and to the left as she tried to remember something. "Actually, I can remember him saying that he had some other business to take care of back at the Temple while you were away anyway."

He frowned. "I will never quite understand what that young man is constantly needing to take care of every time we return to Coruscant."

She shrugged, and took a long sip of her own drink, then watched in awe as the liquid changed colour from a brilliant blue to a luminous green. She licked her lips, and set the glass back down on the bar before them. "He didn't give me any details, just briefly mentioned that he was saying goodbye to an old friend."

Obi-Wan's face fell at the mention of the 'old friend'. "Oh my blazes! I completely forgot!"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

He looked her directly in the eyes. "It's the anniversary of the death of Anakin's mother today."

Her jaw became firm, and her blue eyes betrayed a slight sense of guilt. "Oh, no wonder. He did seem a little...withdrawn."

He nodded. "I would have thought so. They were very close." He looked away for a second, then back at her again. "The events surrounding her death weren't particularly pleasant."

She ignored an urge in the back of her mind to inquire further. "How long has it been since she...you know?"

His eyes turned sad for a brief moment, and a grim smile came to his face. "A year."

She shuddered, and finished off the remainder of her drink. "Poor Anakin."

He nodded, and downed the remainder of his second also, almost trying to rid himself of the grief and torment that he was suddenly feeling coming from the presence of his old apprentice, even though he was half way across the city from him. "I agree."

Siri shook her head so that her blonde hair bounced gently about her shoulders, then looked slightly to her left, trying to find an excuse to change the subject. "Seen any sign of that informant yet?"

He shook his head. "Nope. No tinglings in the Force, no nothing."

She froze for a second, and suddenly whirled back to face him. "Speak again. She just arrived."

"She?" He remembered to keep his gaze on her. "By any chance to my left and yours?"

She nodded solemnly, and leant in close towards him. "Hug me."

"What?" He remained baffled to her plan. "Is this really the time to - "

"Just do it, Obi-Wan!" She exclaimed, cutting him off and making him oblige instantly. She waited for a moment, then giggled lightly and whispered gently into his ear, "Do you see her?"

He flinched as her breath tickled the side of his neck, but replied in a hushed and hasty tone. "The one with the red hair?" When he felt her nod, he whispered something random about Master Yoda into her ear, forcing her to giggle rather strangely. "Then yes."

She pushed him off of her, and brushed her hand down his cheek. "Does she want us to follow her?"

The lady with red hair caught his gaze, and after digging her hands even deeper into the pockets of her grimey, black jumpsuit, turned with a flick of her hair and left through the port-hole of the establishment a few seconds later.

"She just left." He dropped down off of his stool, and straightened out his rather crumpled uniform. "Give her a few minutes to get ahead, then we'll follow."

She nodded, and remained where she was seated. "I've got a tab on her presence in the Force." She gave him a slight look of concern. "Should we worry that I think she is Force-Sensitive?"

He smiled calmly at her, and nodded. "We'll just have to take a little more care when we are dealing with her."

She nodded once more, then leapt down from her own stool and gripped his hand. "Let's go."

Togther, they dropped their Force 'guises, and ventured out into the bustling street before them.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Tense Meetings

Obi-Wan Kenobi's chronometre bleeped once more, and he reminded himself to slow down his pace. At his side, his lover and companion, Siri Tachi, dropped into step with him. According to the chronometre, they had been following the informant for about three hours, through main streets and backstreets, moving further and further away from the Jedi Temple. He rolled his eyes. This informant had planned this meeting very carefully, almost too carefully. But, this was not the main thing that worried him, it was the fact that his Force-attuned danger sense was not sending a chilling prickle up and down his spine, it remained perfectly calm and silent. He reached out to Siri at the point, and felt her own anxieties were the same as his. Clever and sneaky informants were bad enough, but when they knew the Force as well, things could start to get more and more complicated.

He looked around, trying to see if there may be any of the informants 'companions' lurking nearby, ready to ambush them when they thought they were not alert. But, once again, he was unable to sense any feeling of danger anywhere. He was starting to get frustated. The street that they were in now was virtually deserted, a few beings meandering past, but he felt no sense of danger or unease radiating from them. He raised his wrist once more, and checked his chrono. Another seven minutes left, but that was not the thing that startled him. It was only 15:00 hours in the afternoon, and yet, a heavy fog was seeming to descend upon them, almost blocking out the shapes of the derelict buildings around them, and the glow of Corsucant's artificial sun above. He turned around, looking for any sign of industry that might be the cause of the smog before his eyes, but could not see past his own hands. In his right hand, he felt Siri's grip tighten about his fingers, and he looked in her direction, to find only a mere silohette of her form.

"Obi-Wan?" She stopped, bringing him to a halt at the same time, or so it seemed. Her bleak image came in front of him, and he could make out the shape of her hair and shoulders. "Why have you stopped?"

_Why have I stopped? _He looked at her head, trying to find any distinguishing features on her face, but failed miserably. "I...I can't see..."

"What!" She waved a silohette of what seemed to be her hand in front of his face. "You cannot see anything?"

He nodded, and tried to reach out and grip her hand, but fell several inches short and to the right of making contact with her. "No...not at all. Just a few blurry shapes."

He felt her concern and fear radiating through the Force. "This can't be good."

He nodded once more. "And without eyesight, I won't be much help if we're jumped."

Her head turned to the right, and looked away for a moment. "Good point." Suddenly, she snapped what looked like an arm down onto her utility belt, and withdrew a cylindrical object from it. She ignited the blade, screaming at Obi-Wan in the process. "Ambush! Defend yourself!"

He rolled his eyes, knowing that he would not be much use right now, but he fumbled around on his own utility belt and removed from it what felt like the hilt of his lightsaber. A lump started to rise in his throat, however, and he froze. His danger sense was still not tingling.

"Obi-Wan!" Siri leapt in front of him, and deflected something long and grey that came shooting towards him. "Use the Force to at least try and help me!"

He remained where he was, moving. "I...I can't move anything."

She gasped. "This is not going well!"

To his left, he saw something come flying towards him. Once again, Siri was there to block the shot, but then, got hit herself in the leg. She bent over double, and got shot another two times in the side.

"Siri!" He exclaimed, and suddenly found that his sight and movement returned in a flash. He danger sense re-awakened, alerting him to about three dozen hostiles all around them, all taking positions from the roof tops of buildings all around.

He dropped down to Siri's side, raising one single hand above his head to project a Force-Shield around them. "Siri! Are you okay?"

When she did not reply, he dropped two fingers down to the side of her neck and checked her pulse in desperation. It bumped steadily under his fingers, and he let out a sigh of relief. It was at that point that the fire subsided, and he looked around him uneasily. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

The muscles in the top of his arm started to ache, and a pressure at the back of his mind began to creep forward. He fell into the Force, trying to push it away, but found that the distance between him and his access to it was getting increasingly larger. As his vision started to cloud over once more, the fire sprayed down around them again, and he was struck several times in the chest.

Everything went black, and Obi-Wan Kenobi's body dropped down beside that of his lover's.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Surprises and Partnerships

"Obi-Wan?"

"Obi-Wan, can you hear me? Are you awake?" A rush of air entered Obi-Wan Kenobi's ears, along with the call that sounded like it was coming from miles away, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Siri?" He asked a weary tone to his voice as he tried to sit upright, but found that he was bound to a chair that was leaning back at a slight angle, as to presumably make it easier for any person to see what was going on behind his back. "Where are we?"

She did not reply, and in a little panic and curiosity, he raised his head to a more obtuse angle, and looked around for any sight of his companion. Instead, he found himself staring into the eyes...or he should say visor slit in the helmet of a Mandalorian warrior, who was seated on a chair before him. The warrior's metal armour was dented and scratched, and the red paint that outlined the sloping, angular edges of the helmet was chipped and starting to flake away.

From the warrior's stocky build and bulging muscles that were visible in between the joints in the man's armour, he could only presume that the being before him was most definitely male, and was probably a man that was not be disobeyed. Still, he was no match for a Jedi Master who was in adequate knowledge of using the Force. He gave the warrior a small smile, and fell into the Force, with only one mission in mind, trying to find out the identity of the man before him.

"Where is my companion? The female that I was with?" He asked the man, wishing to distract him, so that the Mandalorian would not know what he was doing in the Force. "I hope she is unharmed."

"You have nothing to worry about, Jedi." The warrior's voice - most definitely male due to its low pitch and gruff tone - rang lightly in the Jedi Master's ears as an unusual pressure started to build at the back of his mind. "She is safe, and has already under gone questioning."

The pressure started to grow and increase in depth, and after a few seconds, caused a dull ache that was more irritating than actually painful in the whole of his head. Reluctantly, he released any intentions that he had to try and find out the identity of the Mandlaorian before him. "That's good news, to say the least."

The Mandalorian remained quiet, presumably waiting for the Jedi Master to quiz him about where he was, or in fact, what was happening to him in the Force. He sighed, and decided to play along with this thought, unless the conversation started to take a more personal turn.

He smiled, and would have crossed his legs, if they too were not bound together at his ankles. "Ok...let's get this started. Who are you? What do you want with me and my companion? And where the blazes is the woman we were following earlier?"

Although it was impossible to tell, he expected that the Mandalorian was smirking at him through the visor slit in his helmet, "Isn't it I who should be asking the questions?"

_How predictable_. The Jedi Master raised an eyebrow at his captor. "Depends on the questions."

The Mandalorian leant back in his chair, and folded his arms across his broad, battered, metal armour. "Ok, Jedi, if that is how you want to handle things, let's talk blankly."

"Go on."

The warrior's helmet drifted slightly to the left, and all of a sudden, a slender, female form appeared out of the wall from behind him. Her red hair hang down over her shoulder, and her arms were folded across her grubby flightsuit. When she saw Obi-Wan gawping at her in shock, she dug her hands into the pockets of it.

The Jedi nodded his head slightly, shaking off his surprise. "Well, that would certainly start to explain things."

The informant blushed, and turned a nervous eye to the Mandalorian. "The...the female Jedi has been secured, sir."

_Secured? _The warrior nodded. "Thanks, Keisha. Please, take a seat, and join us in this discussion."

In slight embarrassment and more than a little confusion, the young woman took a seat, folding her legs over one another and crossed her arms, forming a barrier across her torso. The Jedi Master took a note of this, and leant back further into his chair, feeling a pain shoot up through his buttocks. He just about resisted the urge to shuffle around in his chair, feeling nothing from his left leg. It was entirely numb from sitting down for too long.

Pushing away his discomfort, Obi-Wan looked directly at the Mandalorian, and made his tone even, but left a hint that there may be a little ice thawing away beneath its calm over-tone. "Look, I can see now that you two are working together. So, let's stop all of this fooling around. We both have information that we need from one another."

For the first time since she had entered the room, the woman named Keisha smiled, and looked eagerly over at her employer, who in return merely nodded. He sat forward, resting the chin point of his helmet onto a metallically gloved hand. "Fine, Jedi. We want to know what other information you have on the Boba Fett."

_Now we're getting somewhere_, the Jedi Master thought, once again falling into the Force, trying to sense the identity of the Mandalorian that had yet revealed his name. But, once again, the fog of aggravating pain started to cloud his mind. He sighed, and dropped the effort once more. "My Council does not know much, except a few minor details."

The warrior's helmet tilted slightly in interest. "Tell m..." The man changed his request. "...us."

He gave his captor a small, comfortable smile. "According to some of our contacts in the Outer Rim territories, the young boy has been seen conducting business with a bounty hunter named Aurra Sing."

"Aurra Sing?" Keisha's brow raised slightly in alarm. "Isn't that the bounty hunter who -"

"Yes." The Mandalorian cut her off, obviously not wishing to engage upon the subject any further than necessary. He turned his attention back to the Jedi. "Any ideas about where?"

The Jedi Master would have spread his hands, but was unable to, of course. He blew out a short breath, and rolled his eyes. "I think that your guesses are as good as ours."

The warrior folded his arms across his chest once again, and started to tilt back slightly on his chair. "Okay, then tell me what does your Council want with the kid?"

Obi-Wan Kenobi smiled even more. "I do not know whether I should share that information."

He saw his captor's body tense in aggravation within his metallic armour, but after a warning glance from his employee, Keisha, the unease slid out of his muscles reluctantly. The Jedi Master knew that he could not keep pushing the Mandalorian like this, but he wanted to get more information out of the gruff man before he had to divulge some of his own.

Keisha waved a gentle hand at her employer, and then looked directly into her captive's eyes, and the Jedi felt the same Force-smog he had felt earlier start to creep back into his mind. "Are there no details you could tell us?"

He closed his eyes, and with an over-whelming sense of strength, he drew on his own Force power...and pushed back against the smog in his mind...drawing deeper and deeper on his Force-well of power. Across the room, he heard the Mandalorian shuffle, then a loud thud emitted from over where the girl had been sitting.

He opened his eyes, and stared in shock at what he had done. In Force-shoving back at the Force-smog in his mind, he had caused its source, in this case the girl Keisha, to be knocked back as well. And now, she was lying on the floor, her red hair covering her face, so her features were unreadable. The Mandalorian was crouched down next to her, checking for any indication that she was awake. But, the young woman remained laying on her side, unmoving and perhaps in immense pain.

The captor whirled on him, the red paint of his armour seeming to flare even more in anger above his contracted and tensed muscles. "What did you do to her Jedi?"

It was in that instance that Obi-Wan became aware of the closeness between the employer and employee, and despite his own shock, managed to pull a calm and serene mask down over his face. "Nothing, she is merely unconscious." His voice echoed in the small room with an aura of Force-enhanced stillness. "She will wake up soon. Just don't have her pull any more Force mind tricks on me."

The Mandalorian growled something in a language that may have been Selonian, due to its gruff sounding words, but he could not be sure. The man rose from his employee's unconscious body, and sat back down on his chair. "You've proved your point now, Jedi. Just tell me, what do you and your Council want with Boba Fett?"

_But I have not yet proved my point_, the Jedi Master thought in a little bitterness. He pushed this thought down to the pit of his subconscious thoughts, and shook his head. "Set me free, and I will tell you what you need to know."

His captor snorted and laughed resentfully. "As if, Jedi. After the stunt you just pulled, I think that you are better off where you are right now."

Behind the warrior, his young employee stirred, and both of the men turned towards her. She sat up, holding a hand to her noticeably aching head, and emitted a low groan. "Argh..."

She gave her employer a small smile, and picked herself up from off of the ground, the up righted the chair that had over-turned with her once she had collapsed. Sitting down upon it once more, she glared at their captive with an obvious disgust.

"Look..." Obi-Wan shrugged. "I am not going to attack you. Wouldn't you think that it is safer to trust each other now, rather than later?

Keisha and the Mandalorian looked at one another, silently admitting that this may be the only way to try and get information out of the Jedi. The warrior turned to him, and gave him a twisted smile that was visible through his helmet visor. "So be it, Jedi."

The captor reached up and released two catches from the sides of his angular helmet. He pulled it off, and all of a sudden, an atmosphere of shock and disbelief descended upon the room. For the first time in what felt like hours, the jedi master found himself gasping. "J...Jango Fett!"

Fett smiled crookedly back at him, and turned to Keisha. "I think we have interrogated Master Kenobi long enough for today. Escort him back to the cargo hold until the morning. We'll continue this later on."

Keisha nodded, and went back to the jedi, unbinding his hands, legs and the band that restrained him across his chest. She hauled him to his feet with a force that overwhelmed him. "Ok, Jango." She pulled him along, and had to support him somewhat due to the Jedi's sudden lack of muscles. "I'll see you in a minute."

With that, Obi-Wan was dragged out of the room, and brought to the cargo hold...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Jedi Way

Obi-Wan Kenobi tried to spin around to try and face the young woman that was leading him to the cargo hold once more, trying to get some of the answers to the questions that were buzzing through his head. "Listen, Keisha, you do not have to be so hasty in putting me in here, you know. We both want something out of each other, and I would be willing to chat about -"

She raised a hand to quiet him yet again, her blue eyes burning in the brightly lit corridor they were currently marching down. "No. Jango and I will continue this with you tomorrow. Think over what you want out of us, and consider being more compliant in giving us the information we need in return."

She placed a hand in the small of his back a few places later, and pushed him towards a door just in front of him. "Now, get some rest." Then, without another word, the door shunted open before him, and he stumbled the last few steps into the spacious cargo hold.

He groaned as the only exit to the hold fastened shut behind him, and plummeted the entire area around him into darkness. "Great," he mumbled, taking a few hesitant steps forward, and bashing heavily into some sort of crate just to his right.

"Gartal!" He cursed in a low hiss, wincing in pain as the gloom began to close in around him.

He fell into the Force, and started to survey the room around him. To his left, he sensed no life forms of any particular kind, just boxes of what must have been spices and contraband substances, due to the intense musky air that hung in the dark like a wet blanket. Shaking his head in growing exasperation, he flicked his Force-attuned senses over to his right, and gasped at feeling the presence of a very familiar person laying amongst a huddle of storage boxes.

"Siri!" He hissed, and fumbled his way round to try and find her, his fears starting to grow at the weak life ripples he felt coming from his lover.

Although unable to see her, after about what felt like ten minutes worth of stumbling and falling about in the dark, his right foot gently nestled next to something softer, and the sound of a low breathing wafted into his ears. He dropped down to the soft thing's side, and gingerly reached out a hand towards it. His hand connected with something that felt like the curves of a female human, and he blew out a low sigh of relief. He quickly found the side of her neck, and pressed his index and middle fingers to it, looking for any sign of a pulse. He found almost immediately the regular pulsing of her heart, and found himself praising the Force that she was alright.

He bent down lower to her side, and whispered in her ear, trying to add a little 'Force-persuasion' to get her to wake up. "Siri? Siri, can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Beneath his fingers, Siri stirred and he caught a tiny glint in the darkness that enveloped them to show that she was now awake. She groaned, and he slipped a hand under her head as he sat on the ground, allowing the top of her body to rest in his lap.

She blinked at him in the gloom, and he noticed that a small smile had crept onto her face. She murmured something that was barely audible. "Why...hello."

He smiled at her silhouette. "You okay?"

He felt her nod her head within his lap. "Yeah...I think so. What happened?"

His features melted into those of concern. "I was hoping that you could tell me that."

"Not really," she replied, her voice slightly strained as she came to. "Everything is a blur. All I remember is being dragged down here by that woman we were following, and then everything went black." She shook her head. "How long have I been out?"

He shrugged, running a gentle hand through her hand. "I have no idea. I was told that you had been interrogated before I was."

She shifted on the ground, and attempted to sit up, but he pushed her back down to her previous position. Frowning, she answered him, "I don't even remember that." She caught his gaze, and held it. "So, that must mean that you know who we are dealing with now."

A lump started to rise in his throat as he nodded. "I certainly do."

When he did not elaborate, she raised an eyebrow at him and prompted, "Well, who are these people?"

He laughed sardonically, taking her aback a little. "You aren't going to believe me when I tell you."

She frowned at him and made her tone sincere, and a little bit scolding. "Try me."

He attracted her full attention at that point, with eyes that were wide and reasonably shocked. "Jango Fett."

He allowed her to sit upright at that point, as she rose and looked at him in amazement. "No...that's not possible."

He shuddered. "And yet it is."

"W..." She gave him a concerned gaze. "What are we going to do?"

"What we were told to do." He reached out, and gripped what he thought was her hand, and let out a small but silent breath when what he did make contact with was her right hand. "We'll just have to be a bit more careful this time."

She smiled, and he felt her squeeze his hand in reassurance. "Yes. And keep a closer eye on that employee of his. She's a slippery one."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "They're closer than that. I've got a feeling she's more than an employee of his."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?" When he nodded, she smiled confidently at him. "Well then, we play up against it. They're obviously stronger as one, so we'll have to try and break that up a little bit."

His eyes rolled around a full three hundred and sixty degrees. "That's not exactly the 'Jedi Way' of dealing with things, now is it?"

He became aware of her gaze burning onto him. "Well, have you got any better ideas?"

He sighed. "I guess not."

"Well then," she replied, her tone rather stony. "We'll have to do it that way."

"Okay...okay," he muttered in resignation.

That was the last way he wanted to deal with things, but Siri was right. The Jedi needed to be in control of the situation, to not betray any important information of the Jedi Council. And at the present time, that was not happening. But...did they have to ruin everything just to get what they wanted? Yes, seemed to be the only logical answer. So, as usual, the situation was turning against the true methods of the Jedi, and turning more into something like a political campaign against an enemy, by attacking at it's weaknesses. Not the Jedi way at all...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Missing Jedi Master

As dawn began to break on the city planet and capital of the Republic, Coruscant, a lone figure stood waiting outside the grand main stair well that led into the Jedi Temple. His brown hair blew lightly in the fresh - yet rather chilling - morning breeze, and for the second time, he found himself yawning. It was unfair that his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, had forced him to get up this early on a weekday morning anyway, let alone the fact that he was now late for the meeting they had arranged. Sighing, Anakin Skywalker checked his chronometer once more and resisted a strong urge that rose within him to try and contact the Jedi Master via com-link. It would not go down very well with the rather stern master if his wayward and tardy apprentice commed him asking him why he was only a few minutes late.

He groaned and shuffled his feet, trying to find something of interest around him to occupy himself. Besides, he himself had places to go, and in particular, one person to see. His beloved and darling wife, who he would be seeing after almost half of a month of being separated..., by their duties. It was hard enough for a Jedi to be married to another Jedi or being, but even worse for two people of such diverse careers such as a Jedi Padawan and Senatorial representative for a vital planet. Both of their duties kept them apart for extremely long periods of time, and were so conflicting that they could not even share a simple and short com-conversation very often. This was going to be his only chance to see her before their responsibilities tore them apart again for yet another month, and he did not particularly wish to spend his time waiting for someone who he was pretty sure was not going to turn up.

The sound of voices echoed behind him, and he turned to see two young jedi apprentices, much younger than himself, meandering along rather noisily along the pavilion that they were currently standing on. The one on the left, who was a young rodian male, caught the older Jedi's gaze and immediately hushed his voice, just before stumbling rather clumsily over the young human female who he was walking with. They both burst into fits of loud laughter, and the young female gave Anakin a small smile and waved at him, resulting in another round of giggles from herself and her companion. He rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back to the traffic lanes that were encircling the Jedi Temple. Both of the students had been under some intoxicant or another, and he could still hear them squabbling and fighting as they tried to sneak back into the Temple. Had his Master been around at the time, he might have said something, but the fact that he was not made him feel more at ease. The again, he had no inclinations to break the promise he had made to him self a few years ago...if he was as - what was the word? Safe, yes, that would do, as safe as his Master when he reached his age, then he would like to have himself shot. It was one thing to stick to the rules of the Jedi Code, but to make sure that you never disobeyed one single command; that was pushing it.

He checked his chronometer again, and sighed in agitation. Now Obi-Wan was _really_ late. His patience beginning to wear thin and dry, he withdrew his personal com-link from its holdall on his utility belt, and flicked through the channels he had stored on it, looking for that of his Master. He briefly gazed at each one, then found himself hesitating on one particular frequency, Senator Padmé Amidala's own personal link. His finger hovered on the frequency selector button, then eventually hit the 'next number' function. He would have to contact Padmé at some point, but first, he would have to try and find out why his Master was late. He skipped the next few numbers until he came across Obi-Wan's personal com-link frequency.

He dialled it, and waited as his 'link filled with static. When this still remained for a few long minutes, he frowned at it, and cancelled the call. Redialling it, he waited once more for his Master to answer. For the second time, this did not happen. Memories of the Battle of Geonosis started to flit though his mind, and in anxiety, he tried the com-link for a third time, only to receive similar results to the previous attempts.

"Where are you, Master?" He muttered to himself, and put his 'link away. Who else would know where he might be? The thought came to him instantly. The Jedi Council.

He spun on his heel, and marched back into the Temple.

About six hours later, Anakin had finally received a slot with the Jedi Council to go and talk to them. And now, he was sat in a chair just outside the doors that led into the Jedi Council Chamber - the room where the Council made all of its decisions regarding the Jedi Order - resenting the situation he was now in. He might even have to cancel his meeting with his wife, and that was the _last _thing that he wanted to do. He was not particularly angry at his master any longer; after all, the meeting had only been about discussing what he was going to do whilst his Master went out on his mission with Master Tachi, so it was not of great importance. But, the reason he was here was to meet the Council was not about what he was supposed to do in the absence of his Master, but to find out where his Master was. Obi-Wan had not contacted him in ages, even though he himself was a person who never left anyone in the lurch if he was not able to turn up for a meeting arranged several days before.

Eventually, he became filled with an over-whelming sensation that the Council were ready to receive him. Rising quickly from his chair, he walked over to the two large doors of the Council Chamber and checked that his Jedi uniform was straight and presentable. After finding himself to be looking respectful, he opened the doors and entered.

As all of the watchful eyes of the Jedi Council came down upon him, he bowed inclined his head slightly, and knotted his hands at the small of his back. "Greetings, Masters of the Council. Thank you for taking the time to see me."

Directly in front of him, Master Yoda leant back in his small, conforming chair. "No trouble is it, young Skywalker."

He smiled and waited for a moment as he sensed Master Windu, who was seated to Master Yoda's right, was about to say something else.

"What is troubling you, Padawan Skywalker?" The Jedi Master's voice boomed with a neutral tone.

"I was wishing to enquire about the whereabouts of Master Kenobi." He felt his stomach squirming at his rather eccentric language. "We were supposed to meet and discuss what tasks I was to accomplish whilst he was away, but he did not show up."

Master Yoda folded his small green hands across one another in his lap. "Young Skywalker, begun already, his mission has."

Anakin rolled his eyes, and received a soft yet warning look from the hologram of Jedi Master Aayla Secura, one of the only other members of the council apart from Obi-Wan who he truly got along with. "I was aware of that factor, Masters; I was more worried about the reason why he did not show up. If he is off planet by now, he would have contacted me to tell me that he would not make our meeting."

Master Windu leaned forward in his chair, his dark eyes burning with a harsh scold. "Padawan Skywalker, the mission that Master Kenobi has embarked upon is very delicate. I would presume that he has failed to contact you due to the tense nature of the situation. And perhaps, you should embark upon a mission to try and improve your diplomatic skills. Try and find a placement within the Senate somewhere."

Biting back his anger, he inclined his head then nodded. "Thank you for your time, Masters of the Council. May the Force be with you all."

"With you also, Young Skywalker." Master Yoda replied, and watched with considerable resignation as the young Chosen one left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Search Begins

As the events at the Jedi Temple had enfolded out, half way across the city planet, Obi-Wan Kenobi had awoken after a rather rough night of tossing and turning in the cold cargo hold they had been tossed in a few hours earlier. He sat up, and tried to rub the sleep dust from his eyes. At his side, Siri Tachi stirred and rolled over on her other side to face him, beaming a lop-sided smile at him. He smiled back at her, relieved that he could now see her expression despite the darkness, even though it was starting to slink away now as dawn came about.

The sound of a door opening entered their ears at that moment, and both became instantly aware of a group of people entering the cargo hold. He shuffled away from her just in time as the group of people came around the boxes crates that were piled up nearby to where they were laying. Looking up, both of the Jedi met the sharp, blue eyed gaze of a woman with shocking red hair.

Siri was the first to speak, her tone as cold as a Hoth snowstorm. "Still doing Fett's dirty work?"

The woman called Keisha smiled slightly, and dug her hands into the pockets of her flightsuit, which this time was a dark blue. "Depends if you consider yourselves to be dirty."

When his lover's eyes narrowed to frosty, light blue slits, Obi-Wan spoke up before she had a chance, "Are we going to talk about our situation now?"

She nodded, and stepped aside as two rather burly looking Gamorrean guards started to edge their way towards the two Jedi. "I think that there is a lot that we need to discuss."

Still indignant about being insulted by the bounty hunter's young assistant, Siri raised an eyebrow at the guards. "Why bring these idiots? We're hardly going to resist coming with you, are we?"

The red-haired woman frowned, and glared out at the male Jedi Master with a sour expression behind a curtain of hair. "Well, some Jedi cannot be trusted to contain their powers."

Despite his embarrassment, Obi-Wan rose, and allowed himself to be handcuffed by one of the Gamorrean guards. "Yes, well it does not help if the Jedi are provoked."

He looked at Siri out of the corner of his eye, and reluctantly she permitted the other Gamorrean guard to secure her hands with binders as well. Giving her a small smile, he turned back to Keisha, and gave her an even expression. "Shall we go, then?"

She stepped aside once more, and allowed the Gamorrean guards to drag the two Jedi ahead of her. She followed behind them, and as she spoke to them the Jedi became conscious of their Force senses starting to cloud up, "Jango and I are hoping that you are feeling in a more cooperative mood today."

Siri rolled her eyes, and Obi-Wan found a wry smile sneak onto his face. "The Jedi are always willing to cooperate. For the right reasons of course."

As they moved down more and more corridors of seemingly endless machinery and piping, he found his gaze start to sweep around the area he was now in, and his attention no longer lingering on the bickering that was occurring between Siri and Keisha. It might have been a wise decision earlier on to try and work out where they were right now, but at that very moment, he had been somewhat distracted by the information he was receiving. Of course! A thought suddenly came to him that was such a revelation it shocked him. No wonder the Council had withheld information about the nature of the mission from him; they must certainly have known that it was Jango Fett who they were dealing with, and wanted him to have kept his mind clear so that he could mull over the information in his own way.

He shook his head, and returned back to the present. Strange, how the oddest and most dormant of thought patterns could lead to an eye-opener of a realization. He smiled a little to himself at the new thoughts, and turned his attention back to the squabbling women. Their argument was starting to take a more personal tone, each woman attacking their way of life.

"If you know that you can manipulate the Force, then why waste that ability on a way of life that is so…meaningless." Siri was now glaring at the red haired woman's back. "A talent like yours is needed within our order. We could use a person like you."

"Meaningless? How is my way of life meaningless?" The bounty hunter's assistant had now turned around, and was staring at the female Jedi. "I'd say that a Jedi's life is pointless. At least, I do not have to check my every move with a higher authority before I act! Sort of like some…some…infant child!"

Siri's eyes burned, and Obi-Wan quickly intervened before the situation could get any worse. "Look, we are not here to argue! We need to sort this situation out now, so we can start dealing with the main task at hand, trying to locate Boba."

Keisha groaned, and raised a hand. "Alright...alright." She rolled her eyes. "We'll continue this later."

Siri gave the girl a half smile. "Believe me, we will continue this."

The red haired woman turned a corner, and carried on down the long corridor that followed until she came to a door. It shunted open with a large clunk, and she said something that was slightly inaudible, before stepping aside from the doorway and waiting for the Gamorreans to arrive with their Jedi guests.

Obi-Wan gently tapped into the Force, and washed his unease away with a wave of calming Force energy. The fogginess appeared in his mind again for a brief moment, and he quickly turned a curious and yet rather annoyed glance over at the girl, who was standing with her hands neatly dug deep into her pockets, no hint of any sheepishness on her face that he had noticed from their earlier encounters. Something was going on between her and the bounty hunter, something that was fuelling the confidence within her. He turned a quick gaze to Siri who even without a connection to the Force with him had caught onto his path of thought.

She gave him a small nod, and then flicked a cold, blue eyed glare at the Gamorrean before her as it unfastened her shackles gingerly. She calmly rubbed her wrists, her gaze never leaving the Gamorrean, which was actually beginning to tremble. Obi-Wan barely managed to keep a smile off of his face. Siri had always been able to chill the toughest of beings to the very core of their beings without any effort at all. That was actually a trait that he admired in her, and was slightly envious of. But, intimidation was not his way of doing things.

Obi-Wan entered the room of his own accord, a brief and subtle statement that he was trying to gain some means of dignity and silent power within the situation. The action did not work to his advantage, however, when the Gamorrean guards looked totally unaware of what he was trying to achieve. Sighing at the slight stupidity of the pitiful aliens, the Jedi Master headed over to a rather hard looking chair, which he knew would numb the whole of his buttocks region again. Shuddering, he took a seat, and waited as Siri entered the room after him. She also looked prepared to make a statement at the way that she wanted things to play out, but, she used a far less understated way of doing so.

Taking the chair next to her lover, Siri sat down, and crossed her legs. "We do not appreciate the two of you holding private conversations. Firstly, we are here to share all of the information that we have and collect it together, not to size each other up. Secondly, it is very rude."

Jango Fett laughed with his deep and reasonably gruff accent, before replying, "We will conduct this on any of the terms that we wish, Jedi."

Keisha looked at the bounty hunter, and suddenly, he nodded in agreement, before even a single word was spoken. "I agree, Keisha. Let the Jedi present what information they have, and then we will decide the best course of action to locate my..."He drifted off, and then continued a second later after a silent prompt from his assistant. "...Boba Fett."

The Jedi Master barely quelled his interest as to why Fett did not refer to Boba Fett as his son, but replied with a suggestion as to why he had not referred to the young boy in that manner, "We have already told you everything that we know. We now need to start planning how we are going to locate your son."

The Mandalorian folded his arms across his chest, as his assistant moved to stand behind him, mimicking his pose, almost in a motherly kind of fashion. "As you wish, Jedi."

The bounty hunter sat forward, resting his elbows on his metallically covered thighs, and flicked his gaze between each of the two Jedi. "Keisha and I spent some time last night trying to find some information on the last known location of Aurra Sing via the holonet."

Siri raised an impatient eyebrow. "And?"

Keisha grinned, and barely stifled as laugh, that was silenced instantly by a gaze from her boss that suggested her behaviour had been very inappropriate. She blushed, and wiped the smile off of her face, before digging her hands into her pockets in embarrassment.

With his partner quietened, Jango continued, "Her last known whereabouts were on that planet of Tatooine." No emotion of any kind crossed his scarred face, at the content of what he was saying. "We are unsure though whether Boba went with her when she was seen leaving planet. Perhaps that would be the best place to start a search?"

Obi-Wan nodded in understanding. "And did you find out what sort of things that your son and Aurra Sing have been up to?"

"Collecting bounties, we presume, although we cannot tell for certain." Keisha gripped the back of Jango's chair. "But by your tone of voice, I am thinking that you may have some thoughts onto what they may have been doing?"

The Jedi Master shrugged, bringing his legs up onto the chair and folding them in front of him. "I could only venture a guess..."

He deliberately left the thought hanging, just testing the patience of the bounty hunter and his companion. When both made no move at all, and merely waited patiently, he smiled in brief admiration then continued, "Perhaps, they may have had some dealings with the Hutts?"

Keisha frowned. "I would certainly hope not." She looked over at Jango. "But you do have a point. The Dune Sea would be a good place to start a thorough search."

"It would be reasonable to assume that Jabba the Hutt would be the sort of scum that they would have dealings with," Siri interjected. "But we must also consider that your son may have come into contact with other Hutts in the system, for example Durga."

Jango nodded slightly, absorbing the information silently for a moment before speaking, "Then it would be wise to divide our search into two groups, correct?"

Obi-Wan quelled a sudden sense of unease that rose in his stomach. "If you think that would be best, then Master Tachi and I can-"

The bounty hunter's steely gaze came to rest on him, his dark eyes blazing with authority. "No, Jedi. You will come with me to visit Jabba. Keisha can go with your companion to investigate Durga's."

The Jedi Master smiled; his tone of voice perfectly calm as he answered. "So be it. When do you propose that we leave?"

"Straight away." Fett rose, and Keisha left the room as if on cue as an anticipatory silence fell upon the room, which he caught onto instantly. "You can report to your precious Council as soon as we reach the planet." He began to leave, but paused, and looked back at them, "But there is to be no mention of my presence, understood?"

"One hundred percent," Obi-Wan replied with a grin that he knew caught the bounty hunter slightly of guard, mainly due to his use of a Mandalorian phrasing.

Jango nodded, then turned and left the room, leaving Siri and Obi-Wan in the capable hands of the Gamorrean guards.


End file.
